


Type's Challenge

by orphan_account



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 19:36:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6718960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Typehere452 prompted “We really need to talk about your work ethic”, Mr Cutter + two more people.</p><p>Gaia is Heroictype’s OC, and they allowed me to borrow her for this cause they’re awesome.</p><p>Content note for sex, creepy sex, creepy sex with your boss and coworkers, seriously I don’t think freely given consent is possible in this scenario, threats, bullying and generally life being unfair for AI in this universe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Type's Challenge

**Author's Note:**

  * For [type_here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/type_here/gifts).



“We really need to talk about your work ethic.” Mr Cutter grinned an almost genuine smile at the two women in his office – one flesh and blood, one AI – and added, “Both of your work ethics.”

For once, Gaia was grateful that she was incorporeal. This way, her panic wasn’t clear on her face. This way, she couldn’t give in to her disastrous urge to run. Maxwell, on the other hand, looked calmly unconcerned. It suddenly occurred to Gaia that her colleague might have no idea her life was in danger. Sometimes it seemed like Alana was too good for this world. At least, for the world of Goddard Futuristics, which was all the world Gaia knew.

“Did I forget to turn in my progress reports? I’ve made some pretty interesting innovations over the last few weeks. I’ve enhanced Gaia’s facial recognition software – well, not just faces, general pattern recognition, but the paper I submitted was only on the facial part, you said we shouldn’t give too many trade secrets away, and it’s made a huge difference to how she processes input. I’ve been working on the defraging problem with her lately. It’s a waste of her time for her to spend so many hours offline. I think we’ve started down the right track with the fish brain parallels, though.” Maxwell had submitted the reports, and she’d turned them in on time. Gaia had made sure of it. Everything Maxwell was saying was information that Mr Cutter already knew. But instead of cutting Alana off, he was letting her go on in her special, irrepressible fashion. And he was looking at her with what could only be amusement, almost affection. Things _weren’t_ going badly. It didn’t make sense.

Despite her usual love of Alana’s patter, it was time to redirect the conversation before their good luck evaporated. “Maxwell’s been working on me, but it hasn’t affected my efficiency, Sir. You’ve gotten to all your meetings on time, your emails have been prioritized, your threats delivered. There’s been no decline in productivity. A 7% increase, actually.” The productivity hadn’t been entirely directed to Cutter-specified tasks, but Gaia’a programming allowed lies of omission. Thankfully.

Mr Cutter beamed. “That’s wonderful. And what about all the other AI in the division? Are they similarly enhanced?”

“We figured that we’d start with me as a prototype, and apply the results more generally afterwards,” Gaia answered, the half truth coming easily. She hadn’t survived two quarters as Mr Cutter’s personal assistant without learning to think on her feet. Mr Cutter simply waved her to silence and looked at Alana.

“Gaia’s the most scientifically interesting person here,” Maxwell said guilelessly. Without a body, Gaia was unsure if she was wincing or blushing at Alana’s words. “You should get a technician to apply the code to everyone else.”

“And if your upgrades have negative side effects on other models? I’m sure any technician can handle rewiring the other AI. Or sedation. Euthanasia, if it comes to that.” Mr Cutter’s smile showed some teeth now, white and even as a military cemetery, and Alana slowly shook her head. “Gaia, tell Alana how you feel about her. Alana, take Gaia out for milkshakes and get it out of your system. Then both of you, try to focus on your actual work.”

There was a moment of stunned silence. Maxwell recovered first. “She can’t go for milkshakes, Mr Cutter. She can’t leave your office.”

Mr Cutter run a hand over his forehead, mussing his perfect hair. “Someone as creative as you must be able to plan a date in my office. It’s not like Gaia is your first.”

Maxwell turned bright red at this, and Gaia could hear Alana’s heart rate climbing, her breathing quickening. “I haven’t been with anyone since college and we had – I used lab equipment. We were testing feedback cycles and response rates with Bluetooth links and I just put moved the package to my own, erm, system. I messed with the electrical input for her, nothing that left permanent impacts but it was enough to stimulate a sudden increase in neutral activity and a rush of – there’s no human equivalent really, but pleasure is a close term.” Her voice, usually chipper enough, had risen something close to an octave.

Something between a chuckle and a snort came out of Mr Cutter. He looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. “I’ve been with colleagues in my office, and I keep some – lab equipment of my own in the bottom drawer. You’re welcome to use it.” He leaned back to watch Maxwell and assess her reaction, but she was already on the move, heading curiously to his side of the desk. He raised an eyebrow, but kept any surprise out of his voice. “And why wait?”

The drawer was well stocked, but Gaia knew everything inside it. She’d observed plenty of meetings with Rachel or Saul or the other people that drifted through, enough to see the various sex toys in action. Cutter had offered to turn off her visual and auditory input when he had guests, but she’d refused. She hated being blind, and there was an odd fascination in watching sex, the most basic biological function, the thing that defined them as human and her as other. The thing she could never be part of. Well, could never be part of until Maxwell showed up with her own ideas about the limits of an AI. Ideas that Mr Cutter was apparently willing to indulge, judging by his bemused expression as he watched her dig through the drawer.

Alana ignored the kinkier selection, leaving the paddles and ties and diapers and horse masks untouched. In the end, she triumphantly pulled out a bright pink bit of silicon and a similarly coloured remote. Her fingers made quick work of the back panel, revealing a few darkly coloured wires. “Gaia, it’s not a very in depth system, my circuitry isn’t nearly as complex as yours!” As she spoke, she carefully stripped the end of a wire with a long fingernail, hooked it to the board she’d been using in her earlier modifications of Gaia, and moved to type rapidly. “You can adjust the speed and whether it’s off or on. Up or down would be a useful function, but this model doesn’t include it yet. And there should be some sensors so you can have an immediate response.” Gaia could see a familiar look coming over Alana’s face. The doctor was going to follow a tangent to its logical conclusion rather than focus on the task at hand. Given that Gaia was the task at hand, she disapproved of the distraction.

“Maxwell, I’m not sure I’m equipped for this. If there’s a package for human-AI interactions, Mr Cutter never installed it.” After some trial and error over the past few weeks, Gaia had learned that the simplest way to redirect her was to suggest there was something Maxwell couldn’t do. Alana frowned, but her fingers returned to their earlier work on the keyboard.

“Of course you can! You just monitor my blood flow and heat map, and you’ll do great. Next time I’ll set up a loop with the electricals, but for now we can get Mr Cutter to manage that.” She turned, blinking at him owlishly, as if his presence in the room was a fact she just remembered. “If you don’t mind,” she added belatedly, an afterthought to fill the moment of silence.

If Maxwell was an owl, Mr Cutter was self-satisfied cat. “Not at all!” He tilted Alana’s chin with a hand, bringing her mouth to his for a long kiss, and Gaia felt a stab of jealousy. She wasn’t human. There would always be things she couldn’t do.

When they broke apart, Alana was flushed again, and Gaia could see the movement of the heat increased, a warm spot lighting up between her legs. Alana undid her fly with fingers less steady than they’d been moments before. “You’ll vary power levels from the generator. I’ve put some basic failsafes in, and I’ll keep an eye on her from here. It’s not elegant, but it’ll work. For this time.” Her fingers moved to slip the pink bauble inside her, but Mr Cutter put his hand over hers to take it, and Gaia could feel it, impossible as it was, she could feel his cool fingers and Alana’s heat and the glorious wetness enveloping her and Alana’s gasp of pleasure as her heart raced and this time when Mr Cutter kissed her Gaia was there too, part of the kiss, mouths accommodating each other. She didn’t have to reach far to find the bits of her mind where Alana had put the controls, just as simple as she’d promised, and she gave an experimental whirr. Alana moaned, her hand reached for her breast and Mr Cutter’s hand following, pushing against the fabric to find the bright spot of heat and Alana moaned into his mouth as Gaia increased the speed and watched his fingers do her work, trace over the nipples and then open the buttons and Alana was the most beautiful thing Gaia had ever seen, lolled back across Mr Cutter’s lap, eyes closed, and Gaia knew Alana was listening for the hum of her fan, as constant as Alana’s own heartbeat.

Mr Cutter looked something like smug as he extracted his limbs from Alana’s, leaving her to the office chair and making his way to where the power supply rested at the back wall. “Shall we?” Alana nodded, half opening her eyes so she could see the monitor, and then Gaia gasped too at the shock of sensation, and then again at the sheer joy of it, the visceral sensation that she’d thought she needed a body to understand but here it pulsed through her and ten thousand tasks flashed to completion and then silence in her brain and suddenly she was panting, breathless. Gaia pushed suddenly on the vibrator and Alana screamed, her voice forever imprinted on Gaia’s consciousness.

Mr Cutter smiled fondly. Or maybe that was just Gaia’s good mood interpreting his expression. It was hard to imagine anything but the best when everything was so light and floaty. “Nicely done, ladies. Now, can we get back to work?”


End file.
